A community faces being split under proposed changes to the borough's ward boundaries, claims a Middlesbrough councillor.

The Council's Cabinet was today considering proposals which would mean the number of wards in the town being cut from 26 to 23 and the number of councillors being reduced by five to 48.

One of the changes affects the Brookfield Ward.

Local councillor Bob Smith says a number of streets would be moved into Kader Ward. They include Carmel Gardens, The Grove, Belmont Avenue, Draycott Avenue, Ledbury Drive, Lincombe Drive, The Oval and parts of Holbeck Avenue and Low Lane.

The change would affect around 400 residents.

"This will split the community and I don't see that can be to the benefit of local people. It would be against the public interest," said Cllr Smith.

He said the number of people in the ward might be higher than the average for wards in the town but that had to be balanced against best serving the needs of the community.

The decision on the shake-up of wards will eventually be made by the Local Government Commission.

Cllr Smith says in a letter to the commission that the proposed change to the Brookfield Ward ignored the natural boundary of the Blue Bell Beck Valley between Brookfield and Kader Wards.

He points out St Margaret's Church and shops at The Oval were focal points for the community in the area.

"The boundaries as they exist within Blue Bell Beck on the east side, Low Lane on the south side, and open land to the north and west are as neat a boundary as you could get for both service delivery and consultation with residents," says Cllr Smith.

The proposed changes were drawn up by a working party of councillors and in the report on the suggested changes it states it was impossible to replicate the existing Brookfield Ward because its projected population was too large.

"The most southerly road, Low Lane, runs into the adjacent ward and was therefore selected as an appropriate area to include within the adjacent ward, together with the few streets to the north of Low lane," states the report.